Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen extends his Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross C’ship lead with another 1-1 sweep in Michigan; Martin takes third 250cc win.
If you’ve ever watched documentary footage of trainer Alden Baker’s workout programs for Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto, there are times when Roczen might come off as a bit of a whiner, and that is completely understandable. The intense regimen that Baker puts his riders through is hellish, and you couldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to be subjected to what must feel like endless days of the sort of training that Baker deems necessary for a motocross athlete to perform at the top of his game. Numerous AMA supercross and motocross titles won by Ricky Carmichael and Villopoto are proof of Baker’s concepts.
But Roczen is clearly a believer, and his 1-1 sweep of the Red Bull RedBud National in Buchanan, Michigan, yesterday, showed once gain that all the hard work is paying off for the young German. While Roczen isn’t destroying his competition—Muscle Milk Honda’s Trey Canard gave Roczen a great fight in 450cc Moto 2—but he is clearly finishing as strongly as he starts, and he is finding the podium every weekend, and he is usually at the top, having claimed four overall wins in the six round run thus far in the season.
In the 250cc ranks, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin has struggled with mixed moto results in the past couple rounds, but the class points leader regained his rhythm at Red But to post his third win of the season.
450cc Moto 1
Roczen didn’t get the best of starts in the first 450cc moto at Red Bud, but a KTM still ran up front as his Red Bull KTM teammate, Ryan Dungey, grabbed the Motosport.com Holeshot Award to lead the 40-rider field off the start. However, Muscle Milk Honda’s Trey Canard quickly moved past Dungey on the opening lap, the duo attempting to leave the others behind and set a fast pace.
Meanwhile, Roczen fought his way to the front and was able to catch third-placed GEICO Honda rider Eli Tomac by lap four. Roczen passed Tomac for third and then put a stellar move on both Dungey and Canard to move into the lead one lap later. Once he had the point position, Roczen’s talent and endurance allowed him to pull away, leaving Canard and Dungey in his wake Roczen would cross the finish line with 4.5 seconds in hand over Canard, who was able to hold off Dungey for second place. Tomac was fourth with BTO Sports KTM’s Andrew Short fifth.
450cc Moto 2
Roczen was determined to get a better start in Moto 2, and he did, grabbing the Motosport.com Holeshot Award just ahead of Canard. However, the fantastic performances that Canard has been putting in this outdoor season continued when he managed to pass Roczen for the lead on the opening circuit, setting the table for a thrilling battle between the two.
Roczen would stalk Canard and pass the Honda rider, only to see the stubborn Canard fight his way back past Roczen and retake the lead. But Roczen would not be denied, and when he passed Canard again on lap five, he was able to get away and secure the overall win via a 1-1 motos sweep. Roczen’s margin of victory at the finish was 10.3 seconds.
“I really like the track out here, it’s gnarly and it makes it really difficult,” Roczen said. “I had my work cut out for me in the first moto, but I just never let up. Then I let Trey [Canard] by me off the start [in the second moto] and made it tougher on myself, but this was one of those days where my fitness played a factor, and I wasn’t going to let it slip away.”
Second place in the moto went to Tomac, whose battle with Dungey for third place put both men on Canard’s tail. Tomac’s pressure forced a mistake by Canard, who crashed and lost positions to both Tomac and Dungey before he was able to get back up to speed. Dungey couldn’t mount a challenge against Tomac and had to settle for third. That was still good enough to net third overall via 3-3 finishes, but not beat Tomac’s 4-2 performances for the runner-up spot overall. Canard finished fourth overall via 2-4 moto finishes, and Short was fifth overall via 5-5 finishes.
Roczen’s now has 26 points—more than a one-moto lead—over Dungey, while Canard is now third, 54 points out of the lead.
250cc Moto 1
The competition in the 250cc class has been razor close, with the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha tandem of Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett all separated by a mere 17 points. Martin and Baggett each have two overall wins, and Webb earned his first career Lucas Oil 250cc overall win at last weekend’s round in Tennessee. It would be no surprise if the overall win was claimed by one of the three.
But as the gate dropped on the first moto, GEICO Honda’s Matt Bisceglia raced to the Motosport.com Holeshot Award, with Valli Motosports Yamaha’s Christophe Pourcel and Martin second and third respectively. Pourcel took over the lead on lap two, bringing Martin with him, and the pair engaged in an exciting duel until Pourcel crashed on lap four. Martin inherited the lead while GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle moved into second place. Baggett was once again on the charge, though, and he moved into second place on lap seven.
Baggett kept the pressure on Martin throughout for the rest of the moto, but Martin rode a clean race and crossed the finish line just over a second ahead of Baggett. Rockstar Energy Racing’s Jason Anderson finished third, with Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin fourth. Bogle was fifth.
250cc Moto 2
Rockstar Energy Racing’s Joey Savatgy grabbed the holeshot to start Moto 2, with Bogle running second and wasting no time in passing Savatgy to take over the lead on lap two. Martin was also right there, and he stole second away from Savatgy, as did Webb.
Just as Bogle, Martin and Webb began to battle for the lead, Bogle made a major mistake on lap four and crashed. Webb assumed the lead and took it all the way to the finish. Unfortunately for Webb, a first-moto, 14th-place finish would leave him down in the overall standings. Musquin and Anderson battled for third place, behind Martin, while Baggett ran fifth, only to crash on lap 10 and lose a chance at the podium. Musquin would hold off Anderson for third in the moto.
Martin’s 1-2 moto scores secured the overall win while Musquin earned his best result of the season in second (4-3). Anderson completed the overall podium in third (3-4). Baggett finished fourth (2-7), with Webb rounding out the top five (14-1).
“It was a great battle with my teammate there,” Martin said. “I thought I had a chance to get the lead early against [Justin] Bogle, but he was riding defensive and eventually went down. Once I got in behind Cooper [Webb] I just paced myself and put in a push on the final laps to try and pass him, but I didn’t want to do anything to put either of us in a bad spot, especially since I knew I had the overall.”
Martin extended his lead in the 250 Class standings back to double digits over Webb. The two are now separated by 23 points, while Baggett sits third, 28 points back.
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship continues next weekend at the GEICO Motorcycles Budds Creek National at Budds Creek MX Park in Mechanicsville, Maryland, Saturday, July 12.
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
Red Bull RedBud National
RedBud MX
Buchanan, Michigan
Results: July 5, 2014 (Round 6 of 12)
450cc
1. Ken Roczen-KTM/1-1
2. Eli Tomac-Hon/4-2
3. Ryan Dungey-KTM/3-3
4. Trey Canard-Hon/2-4
5. Andrew Short-KTM/5-5
6. Josh Grant-Yam/6-6
7. Chad Reed-Kaw/8-7
8. Brett Metcalfe-Kaw/7-8
9. Justin Brayton-Yam/10-9
10. Kyle Chisholm-Yam/13-13
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship 450cc Series Points Standings (After 6 of 12 rounds)
1. Ken Roczen-280/4 wins
2. Ryan Dungey-254/1 win
3. Trey Canard-226
4. James Stewart-196/1 win
5. Brett Metcalfe-168
6. Josh Grant-159
7. Andrew Short-134
8. Chad Reed-132
9. Weston Peick-131
10. Malcolm Stewart-120
250cc
1. Jeremy Martin-Yam/1-2
2. Marvin Musquin-KTM/4-3
3. Jason Anderson-KTM/3-4
4. Blake Baggett-Kaw/2-7
5. Cooper Webb-Yam/14-1
6. Dean Wilson-Kaw/9-5
7. Cole Seely-Hon/8-6
8. Alex Martin-Yam/6-9
9. Justin Bogle-Hon/5-12
10. Justin Hill-Kaw/10-8
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship 250cc Series Points Standings (After 6 of 12 rounds)
1. Jeremy Martin-250/2 wins
2. Cooper Webb-227/1 win
3. Blake Bagget-222/2 wins
4. Justin Bogle-191
5. Marvin Musquin-181
6. Christophe Pourcel-176
7. Jason Anderson-167
8. Cole Seely-143
9. Justin Hill-127
10. Jessy Nelson-125
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